US ‘not encouraging’ Ukraine to STRIKE beyond boundary, says state dept spokesman

Washington: The United States is not encouraging Ukraine to strike Russia beyond its boundary, State Department spokesman Ned Price said. While addressing the presser, Price said, "We are not enabling Ukraine to strike beyond its borders. We are not encouraging Ukraine to strike beyond its borders."This statement came after the Russian Defense Ministry accused Ukraine of striking two air bases Monday, followed by an attack on an airfield Tuesday, and claimed that these were brought down by Russian air defenses. During the briefing, Price said, "We are providing Ukraine with what it needs to take on the battle or on its sovereign territory, on Ukrainian soil, to take on Russian aggressors that have crossed over the border.

"We are going to stand with Ukraine to regain its sovereignty, independence and integrity."Earlier, regarding the two bomb attacks, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry has offered no official comment on the explosions, and the Ukrainian government has not acknowledged adding long-range attack drones to its arsenal. However, a top Ukrainian official has tweeted a cryptic message hinting at the possibility that Kyiv was indeed behind the attacks."The Earth is round - discovery made by Galileo. Astronomy was not studied in Kremlin, giving preference to court astrologers. If it was, they would know: if something is launched into other countries` airspace, sooner or later unknown flying objects will return to the departure point," Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak posted.

Amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, explosions were reported, on Monday, in Donetsk and Poltava regions. An air raid alert has been sounded in Ukraine, The Kyiv Independent reported. The air raid alert does not include Crimea and Luhansk. Explosions were reported in the Kharkiv region, as per the Kyiv Independent. The report also stated that air raid alerts had gone off in most parts of Ukraine. At least one person was killed and three others were injured after Russian strikes hit Kryvyi Rih city of Ukraine early Monday morning, CNN reported citing local authorities.

Valentyn Reznichenko, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, in a Telegram post said that three missiles struck an industrial enterprise. The missile strike resulted in the death of one employee and injured three others. The injured were taken to hospital for treatment. According to Valentyn Reznichenko, people were assessed to be in stable condition in the hospital, the CNN report said. Meanwhile, Russian shelling was also reported in Nikopol and Zaporizhzhia regions.